Bolzano is the most successful team in Italian hockey league history, winning 18 scudetti (league championships). The club says the signing was “made possible by a strong financial support from private sponsors” and reports suggest Hjalmarsson’s set to arrive in Italy on Friday.

According to a Bolzano press release, the 25-year-old was brought on board in part to compete in the Continental Cup, a tournament of national champions of countries not in the “Super Six” — the top six European nations according to the IIHF World Rankings.